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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 






UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS 



AND OCCASIONAL VERSES 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS 



AND 



OCCASIONAL VERSES 



BY 

WM. RANKIN DURYEE, D.D. 



33 



"SEP 30 if. 



NEW YORK 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO., 
38 West Twenty-Third Street 
1887 






Copyright, 18S7, 
Wm, Rankin Duryee. 



83mbersttg Crests: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFACE. 



The religious verses here printed have already 
appeared in various "poets' corners," — some over 
my own name, and some over the pseudonym of 
George Sharpe, as in the case of the " Via Dolorosa." 
"The Kingdom of Home" was a prize song on home, 
and may be found in various collections. All of 
merit these verses contain they owe to a father, 
mother, and wife, whose earthly love fostered and 
sustained the love supreme. God has taken them 
now to the higher home, and all that is left to me is 
to dedicate to their dear memory this little book. 

June, 1887. 



CONTENTS. 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Page 

The Alpha and Omega u 

Brotherhood 13 

The Restorer's Advent 17 

The Peace-giver 20 

Bethany 22 

Via Dolorosa 24 

Experience 26 

Calvary 28 

Resignation 30 

Doubt 33 

Sorrow 35 

Easter 37 

The Victory 39 



Viii CONTENTS. 

Page 

Magdalena 41 

At the Throne 43 

The Nation's Jubilee, A. D. 1865 45 

Thanksgiving Hymn 48 

Versions of three Hebrew Psalms,— 

I. The Happy Man 50 

II. Messiah's Throne 51 

Messiah's Throne (Second Version) . 53 

iii. ecclesia vlncta, sed invicta ... 54 

The Nobler Home 56 

The Blessed Dead 58 

Dedication Hymn 60 

OCCASIONAL VERSES. 

The Kingdom of Home 65 

The Wizard of Scotland 67 

Au Revoir 72 

Baby Sue 74 

To my Mother 76 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 



THE ALPHA AND OMEGA. 

The seaman on a stormy main 
Traces upon the chart his way, 
And for the port he longs to gain 
His course prepares each day. 

O life of Jesus ! be to me 
A chart engraven on the soul, 
Guiding through doubt and mystery 
To manhood's noblest goal. 

And every wind the seaman hails 
Which speeds him swifter on the course. 
The helm he moves, he bends the sails 
To catch its utmost force. 



12 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

O Love of Jesus ! in me burn, 
That answering love within my breast 
May duty, pleasure, sorrow turn 
To speed me toward Thy rest. 



BROTHERHOOD. 

I love the Church, God's chosen home, 

All-glorious in His sight, 
Firm on the Christ, the corner-stone, 

And radiant with His light. 
Oh ! never from this soul of mine 

May fade this holy love 
Till from the Church below I rise 

To greet the Church above. 

I love the Church which holds the faith 

A Saviour's lips bestowed, 
When through the three and thirty years 

Those lips with grace o'erflowed, — 
Which finds in Him her only Priest 

The sacrifice to bring, 
And, bowed in meek humility, 

Reveres Him as her King. 



14 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Apollos, Cephas, Paul ! not theirs 

The name she joys to own, 
But deeper in the soul engraved 

The name of Christ alone. 
And he who bears it, far or near, 

Is brother still of mine, 
With me to feast on heavenly bread 

And drink the holy wine. 

What care I, if by differing names 

Christ's chosen are enrolled ? 
One Israel still through all the tribes, 

One flock in many a fold. 
Beneath their feet one way extends 

To shining realms above, 
Before their ranks one ensign gleams 

With blazonry of love. 

And sadly in these battle-days 

Some bitter voice I hear 
Which fain would force from out the line 

A soul to Jesus dear. 
" He followeth not with us ; " " His name 

From brotherhood we blot." 



BROTHERHOOD. 

Still turns the Christ, with eyes aflame, 
"Beware ! rebuke him not." 

Oh ! if below with blinded minds 

The Word of love we read, 
Like sullen children if we clash 

On rite and form and creed, — 
When at the dear Lord's feet we fall 

To find His smile our bliss, 
How soon the earthly strife shall fade, 

Lost in a love like His ! 

There, Luther's songs more ardent rise, 

There, Knox of fearless mien, 
There, Calvin of the sunlit soul, 

Move in a peace serene. 
There, Leighton of the holy life, 

And Bunyan, pilgrim tried, 
With Baxter find the perfect rest 

Amid the glorified. 

Then grant to me e'en now, O Lord ! 

The brother's heart and hand, 
Beside Thy feast to welcome Thine, 

Before Thy cross to stand, 



*5 



1 6 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Till Love shall rise as in the skies, 
And in its burning glow 

Thy Church in unity display, — 
A heaven begun below. 



THE RESTORER'S ADVENT. 

The haggard earth gropes on in sin, 

It learns but how to weep ; 
Each pleasure carries deep within 

The pain to banish sleep. 
Its gilded loads crush down the soul 

As faster speeds the day, 
While robed beneath night's sable cowl 

Wait Terror and Dismay. 
But hark ! in midnight moments still 
A song floats o'er the eastern hill : 

The Christ ! the Christ, is come ! 

Strange song to thrill the weary soul ! 

Whence may its music come ? 
It is not blent with ocean's roll, 

Nor with the city's hum ; 
But from the stars which heaven gem, 

Lo ! radiant angels bring 



1 8 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

To shepherds poor of Bethlehem 

The song a world shall sing. 
There first sounds forth the joyous strain 
Which heavenly hosts might not retain : 

The Christ, the Christ is come ! 

" O sin-cursed earth ! we bring the word 

Your sinking heart to stay ; 
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, 

Is born for you to-day. 
For sinful earth He stoops to bear 

Away the guilt and shame ; 
For you He condescends to wear 

A human heart and name. 
Go, shepherds, view the glorious birth, 
And spread the news through saddened earth, 

The Christ, the Christ is come ! 

" His palace ? View the manger's side. 

Friends ? Toiling men are near. 
No pomp and retinue of pride, 

No judgment frowns appear ; 
A blessed Babe, whose loving smile 

Turns swift where love is shown, 



THE RESTORER'S ADVENT. 

No kneeling soul too mean or vile 

To make that smile its own." 
So sounds above the shepherd throng, 
So distant dies the angels' song ; 
The Christ, the Christ is come ! 

Then Faith beholds the ladder near 

Which charmed the dreamer's sight ; 
Then Peace, with balm for mortal fear, 

Stands plumed for world-wide flight ; 
Then Hope flings wide the Eden gates 

Where sword of cherub gleamed, 
While Love divine the entrance waits 

Of joyous souls redeemed. 
Night breaks as beams in eastern sky 
The glorious Dayspring from on high, 

And Christ, the Christ is come ! 



l 9 



THE PEACE-GIVER. 

'T was night, and on a stormy sea 

A toiling, weary crew 
Heard from the hills of Galilee 

The blasts rush down anew. 
Weaker each arm that strove to save, 

Each heart more faint with fear ; 
When lo ! across the crested wave 

A stately Form draws near. 

Human, and yet He walks the deep 

Unharmed where others die ! 
Strange terrors through the seamen creep, 

And quiver in their cry. 
He turns ; afar those terrors flee 

As dawn dispels each shade, 
For Jesus calls across the sea : 

" T is I j be not afraid ! " 



THE PEACE-GIVER. 21 

So when my weak and struggling soul, 

By storms of trouble tossed, 
Hears from afar new surges roll, 

And deems that all is lost, — 
Again One comes to still despair 

And check each hopeless cry : 
" The sceptre of the sea I bear, — 

Be not afraid ; 't is I ! " 



BETHANY. 

There is a little village 

On sunny Olivet, 
Where many saddened hearts have turned, 

And eyes with weeping wet ; 
For, through the veil of flowing tears, 

There may the mourner see 
A Saviour bowed by human grief 

In stricken Bethany. 

Nor hidden deep the reason 

Those tears divine should fall, 
When hearts bereaved by ruthless Death 

Against the tyrant call. 
That quivering frame, those weeping eyes 

Show what the heart must be 
Of Jesus who with mourners wept 

In darkened Bethany. 

So when the storm of anguish 
Sweeps on the soul again, 



BETHANY. 

When Love's refreshing springs of joy 
Give forth strange draughts of pain, — 

O Master ! all our broken hopes 
And hearts we bring to Thee, 

Believing surely " Jesus wept " 
Our tears in Bethany. 

Speak to us then, O Saviour ! 

The peace earth cannot give ; 
Teach us anew that Death has past 

For all that in Thee live. 
And through the veil Thy hand has rent, 

May Faith, enraptured, see 
A nobler life restored than that 

Which gladdened Bethany. 

O village on the hillside, 

Thy memory how dear ! 
The voice of love the sisters heard, 

How sweet to Sorrow's ear ! 
From thee we gain what none have found, 

By quest on land or sea, — 
The balm which soothes the broken heart 

In peaceful Bethany. 



23 



VIA DOLOROSA. 

While I pace the narrow street 
Trodden once by weary feet, 
Where Immanuel bore the cross, 
Where my gain became His loss, — 
Teach me, Saviour, there to be 
Truer follower of Thee. 

From these gloomy walls of stone 
Hear I yet the suffering groan, 
Echoes still the taunting jeer, 
Laugh of scorn to find Thee here. 
Blinded hearts and darkened eyes, 
Could ye so your Lord despise? 

Not for Thee that cross was borne, 
Not for sin of Thine the scorn ; 
All that on Thy head was laid 
From the hour that hate betrayed 
Till they nailed Thee to the tree, 
Thou alone did'st bear for me ! 



VIA DOLOROSA. 25 

'T was for me that brow was torn 
By the cruel crown of thorn ; 
'T was for me those nails were driven ; 
'T was for me that side was riven : 
All Thy wounds but wounds of love, 
All, a grace divine to prove ! 

Who within this darkened way 
Would not, Saviour, long to stay, — 
Finding every heartstring move 
Thrilling to the touch of love ; 
Borne upon a mighty tide 
Closer, closer to Thy side ? 

Pacing still the narrow street 
Trodden once by weary feet, 
Looking forward to the crown 
When I lay my burden down, 
By Thy grace, oh, may I be 
Truer follower of Thee ! 



EXPERIENCE. 

I deemed, O Sorrow ! I could trace 
Thy features, and their meaning know, 
As oft I scanned thy veiled face 
Through tears that fell for human woe. 

How vain the thought ! When thou didst stand 
Within my own love-guarded door, 
And for my treasure reach thy hand, 
I saw a face unknown before, — 

An awful face that bowed my will 
In all the weakness of despair, 
While sounded low, distinct, and chill, 
A voice that seemed to banish prayer. 

A darkness quenched the noontide day ; 
From all the world the glory fled ; 
The firelight fell in ashes gray ; 
The withered flowers of love lay dead. 



EXPERIENCE. 

No more I measure other tears, 
Nor deem thy path, O Sorrow ! known ; 
Alone thou walkest through the years, 
Thy veil is raised to each alone. 

But One thy utmost power has met, 
And from thy bitterness can free, — 
The Soul that bowed on Olivet, 
And bore our griefs on Calvary. 



27 



CALVARY. 

Stay, my soul, with conflict weary, 

By thy sins so hardly pressed, 
Dark life's bitter way and dreary, 

Here on Calvary's summit rest ! 
On that central cross extending, 

Lo ! the Lord of Glory hangs ; 
From His lips the cry ascending 

Tells of more than mortal pangs. 

Yes, 't is He to whom in glory 

Thousand angels bent the knee ; 
Now His sorrows tell the story 

Of a love divine for thee. 
Thine the guilt that makes Him languish. 

Thine the sin that bows His head ; 
Only by Emmanuel's anguish 

See the sinner's ransom paid. 



CALVARY. 

Why, then, by thy foes affrighted, 

In thy weakness overborne ? 
Here the way to heaven is lighted, 

Here thy chains asunder torn. 
When the storms of Justice, flying, 

Overwhelm the sinner's head, 
Sheltered mayst thou stand, relying 

On the cross where Jesus bled. 

Turn again, O soul ! in gladness, 

Grateful love thy life sustains ; 
Cast behind thee all thy sadness, 

Sorrows now are changed to gains. 
Sin and Satan flee before thee, 

Death, disarmed, can bring no loss, 
With the pierced Hands stretched o'er thee 

As thou kneelest at the cross. 



29 



RESIGNATION. 

Within the darkness, where no light has come, 
Save where too-distant stars unwearied shine, 
My heart cries out, though quivering lips are dumb : 
"Thy will, O Lord, be mine ! " 

Though dear ones leave me and the home is rent, 

Than which no earthly home had been more blest, 
A Power supremely good has sorrow sent, 
And on that heart I rest. 

For I do know, — not think, but surely know, — 

From thousand tokens in this earthly frame, 
Whate'er the blessing or whate'er the blow, 
Love is its Sovereign's name. 

Accurst of earth and heaven the bigot's dream 

That He who gave the life and formed the heart, 
Frowns on our love, however sweet it seem, 
And forces souls apart ! 



RESIGN A TION. 3 1 

Far sooner let me follow fools who swear 

Man sits the monarch on a despot's throne, — 
No rule above whose curse he may not dare, 
No will beyond his own. 

Forgive the blasphemy, O gracious Lord ! 

Temptations strong assail me in my need ; 
Thou hast not Thine own blessed gift abhorred, 
Nor taught the woful creed. 

For Love that claims Thy blessing is Thine own ; 
From Thee it sprang, alone in Thee can grow ; 
With everlasting arms around it thrown, 
Death it can never know. 

Life parts the loving not the less than Death : 

Death not the less than Life must own Thy power ; 
For saints above, as on the earth beneath, 
Gleams bright Love's trysting hour. 

Love is but drawn from earth to heaven and Thee, 

Thou Sun amid the stars of lesser beam ; 
Thy love with ours combined eternally 
In glory how supreme ! 



32 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

So here on earth Thou once didst leave Thine own, 

Though one was leaning closely on Thy breast, 
A little while to wait in lands unknown 
Till they should gain Thy rest. 

Thy will be mine, O Lord ! each parting make 

The hour of deeper longing for Thy light ; 
So, gathering store for coming joy, I take 
My song up in the night. 



DOUBT. 

Dense falls the fog-bank on the bay, 
It veils each landmark of the hill ; 

The drifting sailors grope their way 
With dismal bell and whistle shrill. 

On rustic roads its darkness falls, 

Through which the ghostly shadows roam ; 
Men shudder at the churchyard walls, 

And long to catch the sounds of home. 

But lo ! the trees begin to creak. 

Blow swift and strong, ye winds of day ! 
One blast from you, and fog and reek 

Have fled, like fevered dreams, away. 

On realms of thought a darkness sweeps : 
Men turn to monsters in its gloom ; 

At hopeless graves the mourner weeps, 
Or quakes at spectres from the tomb. 
3 



34 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

No path below, no heaven above 
With sunny truth to light the air ; 

Here sounds the dismal sneer at love, 
Here answer wailings of despair. 

Whence come we ? Whither do we go ? 

What fetters these that bind us round? 
Must Wisdom's end be not to know, 

And Life be quenched in graveyard ground ? 

From heights above there comes the thrill. 

O breath of God ! from out that height 
Blow fresh and strong upon the chill 

And darkness of this earth-born night ! 

One rushing blast renews the soul, 

And fear and terror melt away ; 
Faith sees beyond the grave its goal, 

Love soars in song upon the way. 



SORROW. 

We mourn not those who drink Life's genial wine, 
And while their pulses feel the warmest thrill 

Lay down the goblet at a call divine 

For richer feasts which nobler longings fill. 

Nor tears for those who, like the guarded flowers 
When deepest hued, are from companions torn, 

As walks the Master in His loving hours 

Seeking the rare which may His home adorn. 

We weep not when with sudden wrench the gem 
Is from unseemly setting forced apart, 

To sparkle on a monarch's diadem, 

Or flash its rays on Love's delighted heart. 

But constant tears for those who here must quaff 
Life's bitter dregs, or, fading long, must stay 

To meet the Winter, while with scornful laugh 
A mocking world sweeps by upon the way. 



3 6 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Not thee we mourn, O friend ! as fall our tears, 
Thine is the rest, the glory, and the gain ; 

We grieve that we, more lonely, walk the years 
And weaker turn to earthly toil and pain. 

But brighter are the skies since thou art there, 
Warmer the welcome after parting tears ; 

The farewell that we breathe uplifts the prayer 
That soon may dawn for us God's golden years. 



EASTER. 

O Earth, cold Earth ! to life arise, 
The birds are singing round thee ; 

Chill Winter in the distance flies, 

And on thy surface, broken, lies 
His icy band that bound thee : 

Uprise, in blooming beauty drest, 

As Power and Love have crowned thee. 

O World ! accurst by sin and shame, 
Let light dispel thy madness ; 

Life comes to renovate thy frame, 

To burn thy dross by blasting flame, — 
Arouse thee from thy sadness. 

A Conqueror stands, with kingly touch, 
To change thy grief to gladness. 

O Soul ! unfettered at the cross, 

Yet in thy weakness lying, 
Arise ! put off all fear of loss ; 



38 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

To thee, earth's battlefield across, 

A voice divine is crying : 
" Gird on My strength • thy life I hold, 

To give thee songs for sighing." 

For lo ! the portals of the tomb — 

Unsealed in earthly story, 
Where hearts have sunk in hopeless gloom 
As friends have bowed to meet its doom 

Through all the ages hoary — 
Roll back for Manhood's highest heir, 

The Lord of life and glory. 

He stands in life no more to die, 
Death's strongest fetters riven ; 

Ring out, ye bells, the triumph high 

In peals that sound to earth and sky, 
The joy of souls forgiven ! 

Above the grave a new name gleams, 
The Bethel-gate of heaven. 



THE VICTORY. 

Christ has conquered ! Hear the shout 
From the highest heaven ringing ; 

Angel voices send it out, 

Loud the song of triumph singing. 

Hell's dark host is vanquished now : 

Place the crown on Jesu's brow ! 

Christ has conquered ! Lost, O Grave ! 

Is thy hold upon the mortal, 
Fled the fear thy presence gave ; 

Thou for life art made the portal. 
By thy side the Christian sings, 
"Crown the Saviour King of kings." 

Christ has conquered ! Death's cold hand 
Never more the sceptre wielding, 

May a world enslaved command ; 
Low he bends, that sceptre yielding. 

King of Terrors, vanquished thou ! 

Place the crown on Jesu's brow. 



40 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Christ has conquered ! Visions bright, 
O'er the Christian's conflict shining, 

Bring to vales of darkness light, 
Give each cloud its silver lining. 

Hark ! from closing lips it rings, 

" Crown my Saviour King of kings ! " 



MAGDALENA. 

" Pone luctum, Magdalena ! "'' — Latin Easter Hymn. 

Magdalena, cease thy grieving, 
Cheerful turn thee from thy fears ; 
Simon's feast no longer giving 
Place for thy repentant tears ! 
Voices call to gratulation, 
Voices call to exultation ! 

Hallelujah sound afar ! 

Magdalena, with new smiling 
Let thy lovely forehead glow ; 
Where Sin set its hand defiling, 
Let the sparkling sunbeams flow. 
Has not now the Christ arisen, 
Triumphing o'er Death's cold prison ? 
Hallelujah sound afar ! 

Magdalena, sing thy gladness ! 
Christ has risen from the tomb, 



42 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Finished all the scene of sadness, 
Victor He o'er Death and gloom : 
Whom in Death thou once wast mourning, 
Welcome now in life returning ! 

Hallelujah sound afar ! 

Magdalena, sight amazing ! 
Lo ! in life thy Lord appears. 
Sweet the smile He gives thee, gazing, 
View the wounds His body bears, — 
Pearls that shine with rays of morning 
For the nobler life's adorning ! 

Hallelujah sound afar ! 

Magdalena, droop no longer ; 

See thy Sun the darkness part, 

Than Death's mightiest power stronger ! 

Let rejoicing swell thy heart : 

Grief and sadness far are driven, 

Love and joy forever given ! 

Hallelujah sound afar ! 



AT THE THRONE. 

King of glory, crowned for me, 
Let me find my strength in Thee ; 
Let the sceptre and the throne 
Thou dost hold to save Thine own, 
Shield me in each trying hour, 
Guard me from temptation's power ! 

Cleansed from guilt, yet sinful, I 
Send to Thee my feeble cry ! 
Strength of earth can never bear 
That dear cross I fain would share ; 
In Life's dark and dreary way 
Thou alone must be my stay. 

Naught but need is in my call ; 
Simply at Thy feet I fall : 
Sick, I seek eternal health ; 
Poor, I pray for lasting wealth ; 
Blind, I cry to Thee for light, — 
Jesus, Master, give me sight ! 



44 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

While around me press my foes, 
While no truce the battle knows, 
When the valley dark appalls, 
Where the King of Terror calls, 
King of Glory, crowned for me, 
Let me find my strength in Thee ! 



THE NATION'S JUBILEE. 

A.D. 1865. 

Peace, peace ! A grateful nation sings 

Her song of songs to-day ; 

To Thee, O Lord ! the praise she brings, 

To Thee she kneels to pray. 

God is our Refuge, still the same ! 

He maketh wars to cease. 

Exalt Jehovah, praise His name 

Who grants the people peace ! 

Peace, peace ! the joyous anthems rise 

On peals of music sweet, 

Like smoke of ancient sacrifice 

Before the mercy-seat. 

From bowered hamlets fresh and fair, 

From toiling cities grim, 

To heaven listening angels bear 

A land's thanksgiving hymn. 



46 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

O God ! we thank Thee that the crown 

On Freedom's holy brow 

From sea to sea shines radiant down, 

Undimmed in lustre now. 

Where once the darkness seemed to lie, 

We trace Thy wondrous plan, 

That taught us never to deny 

The brotherhood of man. 

We praise Thee from the harvest-field, 

Where bent the golden grain, 

For every blessing Thou didst yield 

To toiling hand and brain. 

Each needful store of hard-won gold 

Thy goodness gave, alone ; 

Oh, teach us never to withhold 

From Thee, our God, Thine own ! 

We bless Thee for the earthly love 

Which cheers our onward way, 

As, gathered from the paths they rove, 

The dear ones meet to-day. 

And mingling round the festal board, 

With home-joy in the heart, 



THE NATION'S JUBILEE. 47 

To Thine own poor incline us, Lord, 
To act the brother's part. 

But when, beside the evening hearth, 
The saddened memories come 
Of hands which never more on earth 
Will clasp our hands at home, — 
For happier homes beyond the sky, 
Beyond these changing years, 
As Faith lifts up the raptured eye, 
We praise Thee, midst our tears ! 

O Prince of Peace ! whose cross of woe 
Our noblest peace has given, 
Whose sceptre rules our hearts below, 
And guides our steps to heaven, 
As Thou didst lead the chosen band 
Who sought of old this shore, 
So bless with peace this favored land, 
One nation evermore. 



THANKSGIVING HYMN. 

Lord of earth and worlds above, 
Thou whose name of names is Love, 
Former of this mortal frame, 
Guardian of its vital flame, 
Bow Thine ear as we would raise 
Grateful songs of thankful praise ! 

For the blood-bought way to heaven, 
For Thy grace so freely given, 
For the Spirit's life within, 
Cleansing from the stain of sin, — 
Hear thy ransomed children raise 
Grateful songs of thankful praise ! 

For the months with mercies bound, 
For our fields with harvests crowned, 
For the glowing flush of health, 
For the honest store of wealth, — 
Hear Thy toiling children raise 
Grateful songs .of thankful praise ! 



THANKSGIVING HYMN. aq 

For the friends we still retain, 
For the homes which yet remain, 
For each loved and loving pair, 
Centres of the circle there, — 
Hear Thy happy children raise 
Grateful songs of thankful praise ! 

For Thy blessings in disguise, 
Winning us from earthly ties, 
Pointing to Thy home of rest 
Where our dear ones still are blest, — 
Hear us, Father, softly raise 
Grateful songs of thankful praise ! 

Naught of worth in us we own 
As we stand before Thy throne ; 
Goodness shines, our needs above, 
From the Lord whose name is Love. 
May that constant goodness raise 
Lives devoted to Thy praise ! 



VERSIONS OF THREE HEBREW PSALMS. 

I. THE HAPPY MAN. 

Thrice blest the man whose feet ne'er press 
The pathways of ungodliness ; 
Who stands not in the way of woe 
Where bolder sinners, reckless, go ; 
Who sits not where the hardened hear 
The mocker's jest, the scorner's sneer ! 

As blooms the tree within the vale 

Whose leaf ne'er fades, whose fruits ne'er fail ; 

While constant streams the gifts bestow 

Of life and beauty as they flow, — 

So prospers he who, day and night, 

Finds in Jehovah's law delight. 

But like the chaff whose empty form 
Is driven by the windy storm 
From off the beaten threshing-floor, 
To mingle with the wheat no more, — 



VERSIONS OF THREE HEBREW PSALMS. 51 

So flee the wicked from the path 
Where sweeps Jehovah's gathered wrath. 

They fall before His judgment-seat, 

No more with righteous souls they meet ; 

For well Jehovah can approve 

The narrow way His people love, — 

While the broad road the wicked share 

He turns to darkness and despair. 

II. MESSIAH'S THRONE. 

Messiah's throne ! Messiah's throne ! 
A subject- world its sway shall know, 
Though kings the sceptre may disown, 
And princes plot its overthrow. 
Against the Lord they lift their hands, 
With hateful rage their strength array : 
" Come, let us break Jehovah's bands, 
And fling His feeble cords away." 

Messiah's throne ! Messiah's throne ! 
Above the strength against it hurled, 
He, whom the calm, broad heavens own, 
Laughs all to scorn a rebel world. 



5 2 



RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

His eyes its inmost counsels see, 

His voice, deriding, speaks the words : 

" My King, on Zion set, shall be 

The King of kings and Lord of lords." 

Messiah's throne ! Messiah's throne ! 
Who reigns thereon speaks God's decree 
" From all eternity, My Son, 
The earth Thy heritage shall be. 
Thy plea shall distant heathen bring 
To own Thee as the Lord of all ; 
And broken like a worthless thing 
Shall every foe before Thee fall ! " 

Messiah's throne ! Messiah's throne ! 
Ye strong and wise, true wisdom learn, 
Jehovah-Jesus serve alone ; 
With fear and faith to Him return. 
Bow, ere His calls of mercy close ; 
Bow, ere His anger blasts in flame ! 
For blest, thrice blest, are only those 
Who put their trust in His great name ! 



VERSIONS OF THREE HEBREW PSALMS. 

II. MESSIAH'S THRONE. 

Second Version. 

Why are the heathen raging 
Against Messiah's throne, 
Their kings and lords engaging 
That sceptre to disown ? 
On high, Jehovah, scorning, 
Derides their hostile will : 
" My King, that throne adorning, 
Is set on Zion's hill." 

To Jesus speaks the Father : 
" Thou art th' eternal Son ; 
Thy royal hands shall gather 
The gift Thy prayer hath won. 
The heathen's strength before Thee 
Shall dashed in pieces be, 
And Thou shalt reign in glory 
To earth's remotest sea." 

Be wise, then, men of power, 
To Jesus yield to-day ; 



53 



54 RELIGIOUS LYRICS. 

Seek peace in mercy's hour, 
Ere wrath beset your way. 
Bow while His love is pressing ; 
Fear, lest His anger flame ; 
For blessing, only blessing, 
Crowns those who trust His name. 

III. ECCLESIA VINCTA, SED INVICTA. 

Beside thy rivers, Babylon, thy captives sit and weep, 
Upon the drooping willows hang the harps that silent 

keep ; 
For we remember Zion low, while our enslavers throng 
To bid us sing in mirthful joy our once beloved song. 

Sing in the land of strangers far Jehovah's glowing strain ! 
Forget thee, O Jerusalem, while distant from thy pain ? 
May these right hands forget their skill, these tongues 

forget to move, 
When we love not Jerusalem beyond our highest love ! 

Remember, God of Israel, as we can ne'er forget, 
The day when in Jerusalem rejoicing foemen met ! 
How hateful Edom's clamor rose, Destroy, destroy it all ; 
Till palace, home, and temple fair to the foundation fall ! 



VERSIONS OF THREE HEBREW PSALMS. 55 

O Babylon ! above thee hangs Destruction's cloud of 

gloom. 
Happy, as thou hast brought to us, who brings to thee 

thy doom ; 
Happy the ruthless hands which slay, as thou didst slay 

our own, 
And dash thy children, as our babes, against the savage 

stone ! 



THE NOBLER HOME. 

Not here, 'mid scenes however dear, 

Find I my lasting home ; 
The radiant sun holds weariness and death, 
The hot plain glows my toiling feet beneath, 
The shadows cool stay not upon the path 

Where day by day I roam. 

Not here, where falls the frequent tear, 

Find I my lasting home ; 
Where trusting hearts are oft asunder rent 
As friendships fail, in hopeless striving spent, 
Where joys, that flash from far a bright content, 

Vanish like billow foam. 

Not here, beset by many a fear, 

Find I my lasting home ; 
So often tempted from the narrow way, 
So often wandering from that path astray, 
So oft despairing, on some gloomy day, 

Lest sunlight never come. 



THE NOBLER HOME. 57 

More fair, within a purer air, 

My lasting home I find ; 
Promised by Lips which never framed deceit, 
Prepared by Power which never knew defeat, 
Glowing with Love beyond all love complete, 

Around my Lord combined ! 

O Night ! pass quickly — for the light 

Of day eternal gleams — 
From His dear Face which human pain has known, 
But waiting now to welcome to His throne, 
From saints who find the rest supreme, alone, 

Surpassing all our dreams. 



THE BLESSED DEAD. 

They have passed beyond our vision, the loved and lost 

of earth, 
They have gained the high fruitions of heaven's second 

birth ; 
No longing turns their raptured eyes to earth's brief, 

fevered day, 
For Life in rarest beauty shines untainted by decay. 

They gaze upon their Father 'mid the glories of His 

throne, 
They are changed into His image, and know as they 

are known ; 
While His wondrous love grows grander within each 

pardoned soul, 
As tides of lower oceans fill each inlet as they roll. 

They are gazing on their Saviour with ever-new delight, — 
That Face desired so often when they walked by faith, 
not sight ; 



THE BLESSED DEAD. eg 

They see the Brow once crowned with thorns, the 

wounds for sinners made, 
They hear the Voice which spake in storms : " 'Tis I, be 

not afraid ! " 

Around them throng the loved ones who before them 

passed to light, 
Whose graves made earth the lonelier, and dimmed its 

glory bright. 
Oh, the rapture of the greeting where Death can 

never part ! 
Oh, the sweetness of reunion of loving heart to heart ! 

They run to holy ministries as Jesus leads the way, 
They feel no toil or weariness, no sun to smite by day ; 
From glory unto glory brought, they pass the endless years, 
While God's eternal beauty in a constant youth appears. 

Blest spirits of the glorified, your happiness supreme 
Shines far beyond the measure of our fancy's wildest 

dream. 
Though homes of earth are desolate, we cannot crave 

return, 
But to share your full redemption our hearts within us 

burn. 



DEDICATION HYMN. 

Lord of the worlds below, above, 
Whose glories shine beyond compare, 
To Thee, whose Name of names is Love, 
We consecrate this house of prayer. 

Saviour, whose human Feet once trod 
The pathway of our grief and shame, 
Thou dear Redeemer ! Lamb of God ! 
Write on our work Thy blessed Name. 

This make Thy temple, here Thy throne 
Establish in the coming days, 
As seeking hearts Thy presence own 
And kindle as they speak Thy praise. 

And as the genial sun and shower 
Bring fruitful blessings to the field, 
So, Holy Spirit, come with power 
To make Thy Word the harvest yield. 



DEDICATION HYMN. 



Our Fathers' God ! Thy praises still 
Shall from these holy courts ascend, 
Till we Thy service here fulfil, 
And rise where praises never end. 



OCCASIONAL VERSES. 



OCCASIONAL VERSES. 



THE KINGDOM OF HOME. 

Dark is the night, and fitful and drearily 
Rushes the wind like the waves of the sea ; 
Little care I as here I sing cheerily, 
Wife at my side and my baby on knee ! 

King, King, crown me the King! 
Home is the Kingdom, and Love is the King. 

Flashes the firelight upon the dear faces, 
Dearer and dearer as onward we go, 
Forces the shadow behind us, and places 
Brightness around us with warmth in the glow. 

King, King, crown me the King ! 
Home is the Kingdom, and Love is the King. 

Flashes the love-light, increasing the glory, 
Beaming from bright eyes with warmth of the soul, 
5 



66 OCCASIONAL VERSES. 

Telling of trust and content the sweet story, 
Lifting the shadows that over us roll. 

King, King, crown me the King ! 
Home is the Kingdom, and Love is the King. 

Richer than miser with perishing treasure, 
Served with a service no conquest could bring, 
Happy with fortune that words cannot measure, 
Light-hearted I on the hearthstone can sing : 

King, King, crown me the King ! 
Home is the Kingdom, and Love is the King. 



THE WIZARD OF SCOTLAND. 



[Read at the Sir Walter Scott Centennial Celebration, Newark, 
New Jersey.] 



Far from the busy, dusty town 
The summer sun shines softly down 
Upon a hillside, where the breeze 
Frolics amid the sportive trees, 
The brook sings merrily along, 
While birds send back responsive song. 
But mark the stripling in the shade, 
Whose length upon the sward is laid, — 
With hat thrown back, with jacket torn, 
A rustic lad in life's fair morn. 
Hard has he fared, I ween, each day 
Plodding the dull and rugged way 
Which toilers, now beneath the sod, 
For generations past have trod. 
But now the birds may sing in vain, 
The Present holds nor joy nor pain. 



68 OCCASIONAL VERSES. 

A book he reads, and hour by hour 
His spirit feels its magic power. 
Freed from the bondage of to-day, 
Through ages past it wings its way. 
He looks on men and cities strange, 
On court and camp and moated grange ; 
And joys and sorrows, melts and burns, 
As page by page absorbing turns. 

He lifts his eyes : what shadows pass, 
Evoked as from enchanter's glass ! 
The roads, the hills, the valley seem 
Changed as within a wondrous dream. 
Lo ! up the mountain path ascends 
A Knight, without his squire or friends, 
Lost in the wild wood yesterday, 
Seeking the stag to bring to bay. 
And now, as flashes on the sight 
A ruddy watchfire's sudden light, 
Rings out the challenge loud and clear 
Of an upstarting mountaineer, — 
Ah ! soon he knew a foeman near. 
What need to tell the boy the names 
Of Roderick Dhu and James Fitz-James ? 



THE WIZARD OF SCOTLAND. 

He turns ; a castle grim and gray, 
Like eagle watching for its prey, 
Gazes with restless, sleepless eye 
Through casement and o'er turret high. 
Across its drawbridge like the wind 
One rides as Death were close behind. 
He wheels, he shakes his gauntlet back 
At foe unseen upon his track. 
The rider? who but Marmion bold 
Daring the Douglas i?i his hold. 

The scenes roll on ; and now he sees 
An Abbey fair 'mid circling trees. 
Without, behold a warrior ride 
As in hot haste from Borderside ; 
Within, he hears a chanted song 
Rolling the pillared aisles along. 
The moonlight falls ; its softening beam 
Silvers the walls, the trees, the stream, 
And through the oriel window glows 
Where sleep the great in /air Melrose. 

Once more is wrought the magic change, 
And by its transformation strange 



69 



70 



OCCASIONAL VERSES. 

Within a crowded street he stands, 
Greeting with silent eyes the bands 
Of citizens and ladies gay, 
Who sweep, like shadows, on the way. 
Past homes so strongly built and high, 
The stony form of castle wall, 
The city's warder, he can spy, 
And faintly hear its bugle call. 
But see ! From out the castle-gate 
Who fares with retinue of state ? 
The gloomy Morto?i ; close to-day 
Must faithful friends beside him stay, 
For Mary rides a Queen again, 
And traitors gather in her train. 

Another change : the crowds between, 
Who clanks along with careless mien ? 
'Tis Claver's / mark the murmur roll, 
" The blood of saints be on his soul ! " 
He passes. Hear the bagpipes fill 
The breezes with their whistles shrill. 
Hark, hark ! the proud, exultant strain 
" The King shall have his own again ! " 
To Holyrood the Prince they bring : 
Dun-Edin, out your banners fling. 



THE WIZARD OF SCOTLAND. 

He comes, he comes with form of grace, 
The winsome heir of Stewart's race. 
See close attendant at his side 
How Bradwardine and Fergus ride. 
The watcher starts, — then falls a cloud, 
Enfolding as in ghastly shroud ; 
The pageants, like the mist, are gone : 
The lad lies on the hill alone. 

Yet in his life one mighty hand 
Has henceforth bid those pageants stand 
Linked with reality to bless, 
To comfort in all weariness. 
No tainted page with devilish art 
Corrupts the conscience or the heart ; 
The world he treads is nobler grown, 
He lives in life beyond his own. 
So would he join the praise which tells 
Of him who wrought those wondrous spells, 
And crown him now with glad delight 
King of the realm of Fa?icy bright, 
Master a?nid the men of mind ; 
Then turn to thank, with heart aflame, 
The God from whom that genius came, 
For sending Scott to humankind. 



7< 



AU REVOIR. 

As where the quiet waters sleep 

The distant stars draw nigh, 

To shine within that mirror deep 

As 't were a lower sky, — 

So in this quiet, lonely way, 

From loving eyes apart, 

Thine image glows with fairest ray 

Within thy lover's heart. 

Yet as those stars beneath the stream 
Shine coldly to the view, 
And lift us to the warmer beam 
That lights the welkin blue, — 
So Memory's image mocks desire, 
Which soars in fancy free 
Past laggard hours to the bliss 
When I shall gaze on thee. 

Creep on, ye moments ! treasured love 
Knows not the word despond ; 



AU RE VOIR. y^ 

O'er time and space, like carrier-dove, 
It grasps the rest beyond. 
The soul, unwearied in its flight, 
While doubt and darkness lower, 
Sees from afar the radiant light 
Which marks the meeting hour. 



BABY SUE. 

Have you seen our Baby Sue ? 

With dimpled chin and eye of blue, 

Tiny mouth to pout for kisses, 

Earnest gaze, which nothing misses 

In the narrow world around her, 

Where the sights and sounds confound her, 

Cooing, crying, sober, smiling, 

All our care and time beguiling? 

Nothing of the past she knows, 
Strangely every face must greet her, 
Not a stream of memory flows 
Past the little lotus-eater ; 
For the present only caring, 
In its shade and sunshine sharing, 
Clinging to the love that 's dearest, 
Grasping at the joy that 's nearest. 

What your value, Baby Sue ? 
Who could guess it if we knew ; 



BABY SUE. 75 

Who could give it, would we take it ; 
By what calculation make it ? 
Diamonds flashing far their brightness, 
Ocean pearls of purest whiteness, 
Gems and gold from mount and river, — 
For them all we would not give her. 

But to One whose love bestows 
This new life for tender keeping, 
From whose Hand each blessing flows 
In our joy and in our weeping, — 
At His call we hold our treasure, 
With her worth past earthly measure, 
Praying for His high befriending 
Here and in a life unending. 

Then we dread not future years 
When these dainty feet may weary, 
When these eyes may dim with tears 
As the world grows dull and dreary. 
So we sing as close we hold her, 
God still closer doth enfold her ; 
Love unfailing hath her keeping, — 
Hush ! for Baby Sue is sleeping. 



TO MY MOTHER. 

[On her entrance upon her seventieth year.] 

How bright the days when buds unfold 

Their freshest beauty to the eye, 
When groves the mating songsters hold, 
And brooks go babbling by. 

Yet into brighter months they pass, 
As summer sheds a warmer glow ; 
'Mid flush of song and greener grass 
The streamlets stronger flow. 

But fairest of them all the days 

When reapers by the river roam, 
And sweet though autumn's golden haze 
Rings out the Harvest Home. 

So loveliest shines on us who meet 

A life long past the charm of youth, 

Enriched, by toils through summer heat, 

With faith, content, and truth. 



TO MY MOTHER. 77 

It gleams in these fruition years 

Fairer than lives the world has known, — 
Through eyes where, often dimmed with tears, 
Love's constant light has shone, 

Daughter and wife and mother, wise 

For every service on thee prest, 
To-day thy grateful children rise 
And call their mother blest ! 



University Press : John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. 



..„!-,', BRARY 0F CONGRESS 

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